It was party time as staff and students gathered to celebrate Canterbury University's 150th anniversary today.
The tertiary institution is New Zealand's second oldest university (the University of Otago is the oldest), and is marking the milestone with a year-long programme of events.
Chancellor Amy Adams said the university was going from strength to strength.
"It's a great time to stop and celebrate. We've had some hard years, as everyone has, so good time for a party."
"We're known obviously around the world for our engineering and for our geography.
"We've got a very strong Law and Business School, but actually there's a lot of perhaps little hidden gems that people don't know as much about right across the campus."
Canterbury University is the region's second largest employer and a pillar of the economy, she said.
"We work very hard at that. We want to be a partner for Canterbury and Te Waipounamu (South Island) more broadly.
"We work very closely with the councils and businesses to be a partner for them, but also make sure we're turning out the graduates that they need to be the future workforce."
Vice-chancellor Professor Cheryl de la Rey agrees, and insists the university isn't standing still as it invests in its future.
"We are embracing new technology - that's a big area of investment for us, looking at how to use technology to make sure that what we do remains relevant to our rapidly changing world."
Canterbury University is planning to roll out a series of celebration events over the rest of the year.
- By Geoff Sloan
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
